eighth grade

One of the Two-Minute Drills that I organized for my class on Monday evening involved a demonstration using water, food coloring, and bleach. You fill a clear glass with water (about half full), add a drop or two of food color to represent sin, stir, and then add bleach to make the color disappear, representing the effect of God’s grace. Many catechists and Sunday school teachers use this demonstration to show how grace dispels sin. […]

So last evening’s class was kind of a mixed bag. The main focus was on the “Ten Commandments Two-Minute Drills” that I wrote about yesterday. Here’s the scoop: All ten students were present and in good spirits. During opening prayer, one of the boys prayed for Brian Campbell, Blackhawks’ defenseman, who suffered a broken collar bone and cracked ribs as a result of a vicious hit by Alex Ovechkin on Sunday. I thought that was […]

I’m pretty excited about this one! I want to do something to reinforce the Ten Commandments as we move in to this last unit on Morality. I also want to place more responsibility on the kids now that they are confirmed, so that they sense a difference between how I taught them before Confirmation and how they are learning now. As a result, I’ve come up with something I call The Ten Commandments Two-Minute Drills! […]

Congratulations to all of the 8th graders who were Confirmed yesterday, including my class of 10 students! I pray that they will feel the abundant graces of the Holy Spirit and the Gifts of the Spirit, flowing in and through them all the days of their lives! As promised, I put together a guided reflection that I’m going to use tonight to help the young people reflect on yesterday’s experience. I think this will give […]

I finally got a chance to correct the Confirmation exams that my students took on Monday evening and I was generally pleased. They all passed! 4 students earned scores of 100+ (extra credit section on the Nicene Creed allows them to score over 100 pts) 3 were in the 80s and 90s 2 were in the 70s 1 took the exam with the DRE on Tuesday because he could not attend Monday night…I’ll have to […]

Last evening, my students took their Confirmation exam. I haven’t had a chance to correct them yet, however, I can tell from a quick glance that there are no disasters awaiting me. In previous years, I had one or two kids who left full pages blank. Not this time. Before the exam, I gave them time to study and to quiz one another. I then told them that the Catholic faith was like a family […]

Our experience of playing a Jeopardy-like review was not bad at all last night. Of course, games can rile kids up so we were walking a fine line between having fun and laying down the law last night. However, overall, I’d have to say that fifty 8th graders in one room behaved pretty well! The nice thing was that they did a pretty good job of answering the questions. All of us were pleased that […]

Tonight, we’re doing our Jeopardy-like review to help the kids get ready for their confirmation exam which will take place next week. Of course, for many years, the TV program Jeopardy has been hosted by Alex Trebek, but some of us older catechists 🙂 recall the original host, Art Fleming who hosted the program from 1964 through 1975 and again from 1978-79. Don’t forget that I have links on last Thursday’s post to the 4 rounds […]

This coming Monday, we’re going to do a Jeopardy-like review with all 5 of our confirmation classes in preparation for the Confirmation exam they will take the following week. Our emphasis for this will be on “Catholic literacy” – the ability to talk about what you believe in and to be more familiar with Catholic vocabulary. We’re going to impress upon the kids that, in just a few short years, when they go off to […]

Tonight is our final Confirmation Intensive for this year. It is also an Open House for parents to attend to see what their kids are up to every Monday evening…hope we get a good turnout. Anyway, for this evening’s intensive, we are reflecting on the Rite of Confirmation itself, taking each of the following five components of the Rite and putting them “under the microscope” for closer study in preparation for the sacrament which is […]